Tsu, Mie Pref., Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)–Toba Aquarium said Thursday that Kira, a female sea otter at the facility, died at 10:40 a.m. on the day at the age of 18, likely from cardiopulmonary arrest due to respiratory failure. With Kira’s death, 22-year-old female May, also at the aquarium in the city of Toba, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, is the only remaining sea otter in captivity in the country. According to the aquarium, Kira was born in April 2008 at the Adventure World theme park in the town of Shirahama in neighboring Wakayama Prefecture and was relocated to the aquarium in March 2021. Kira started to display deterioration in her mobility around August this year and began losing her weight around late October. In order to focus on Kira’s treatment, the aquarium from Wednesday suspended its sea otter livestream on YouTube as well as the sea otter exhibit. The timing of a restart has not been decided. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
